Green aeration and heeling

Snickerdog

Team THP 2019 Grandaddy Alumni
Albatross 2024 Club
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How long should it take in good/normal conditions for greens to heal from aeration?

@shanewu and I played a course today that the aeration was done 3 weeks ago, it was a sandy mess. Those greens today where still sandy and bumpy. We have had good weather here, light rains here and there, plenty of warm (70° weather) days for growth. They where mowing today when I arrived but the greens where inconsistent because of the sand.
Just like to hear some thoughts from those who may know or who work the course in this aspect.
 
Seems like usually they are pretty good after a couple of weeks, but I had the same experience this year, after three weeks we figured the course would be fine, but the greens were just as you described. They seemed to be more like I would expect after one week, not three.
 
At least they use enough sand! One of my courses doesnt use enough and there are empty holes in the greens for 6 weeks.
 
Ours are typically back to normal condition in 2 - 3 weeks.
 
I'm sure it depends on a lot of factors I know nothing about, but right or wrong, by 3 weeks I expect them to be pretty good to go. That's dissapointing.
 
I'm sure it depends on a lot of factors I know nothing about, but right or wrong, by 3 weeks I expect them to be pretty good to go. That's dissapointing.
Thats the thing, my home course was done about 5 days after this course and they are just perfect already. That is why it puzzles me so much.
 
It depends on the type of aeration. Thin needles should heal quickly but bigger plugs will take a while longer
 
It depends on the type of aeration. Thin needles should heal quickly but bigger plugs will take a while longer
Home course was the plugs and done after the other course, that is what makes it so odd. That and the amount of sand still left on the greens. I'm no greens keeper by any means and understand the importance, but just seems to long to me. Once they are healed these greens should be great.
 
Not sure about all parts of the country, but some of the courses out here in the desert poke, and sand their greens twice, two to three weeks apart. Why twice in a short period of time, I have no idea.

Obviously this accounts for 4-6 weeks of rough greens. The plus side is they seem to play really well for the test of the hotter months.
 
Home course was the plugs and done after the other course, that is what makes it so odd. That and the amount of sand still left on the greens. I'm no greens keeper by any means and understand the importance, but just seems to long to me. Once they are healed these greens should be great.
They might be paying for years of not Properly caring for them. My home course dealt with that a little when build up was double the normal range.
 
With regular plugs and normal sanding, ours are usually good within 2-3 weeks.
 
Not sure about all parts of the country, but some of the courses out here in the desert poke, and sand their greens twice, two to three weeks apart. Why twice in a short period of time, I have no idea.

Obviously this accounts for 4-6 weeks of rough greens. The plus side is they seem to play really well for the test of the hotter months.
Generally in KS it is done mid April when the growing season really gets going then again in the late fall. There are some course that will slice in the late Spring and aerate in the fall.
 
Thats the thing, my home course was done about 5 days after this course and they are just perfect already. That is why it puzzles me so much.
That's the difference between someone that knows what they're doing and someone who doesn't. By three weeks, they should be in pretty damned good condition.
 
The biggest thing that bugs me is when you make a tee time and they don’t tell you.... we aerated on xx/xx/xxxx at least give me the chance to cancel.
ok then you arrive and they don’t tell you when you pay
I feel like they are hiding it from the consumer
 
It'd be nice to know the condition of the greens when you call.
 
I usually golf elsewhere for 2-3 weeks, and I always check website/call ahead and ask the different courses when they aerated before booking, as I also detest not knowing when it's being done... especially if they are charging full rate.
 
I think it depends a lot on the soil temp when determining how fast the greens come back. Typically greens heal faster after fall(sept.) aeration since the soil temp is already up.
 
big plugs on my course and they must have decided to do it during the peak of the lockdown. Looks like it has been 4 weeks and still very bumpy. Hitting a putt has a strong element of luck involved
 
I usually golf elsewhere for 2-3 weeks, and I always check website/call ahead and ask the different courses when they aerated before booking, as I also detest not knowing when it's being done... especially if they are charging full rate.
Problem was we knew it was done just over 3 weeks ago. Still on full rates for this course, everything else was great with the course.
 
Do all the courses near you do this at the same time? Round here, they seem to do it randomly. You’d think that they would all be doing it at a similar time as that’s when the weather is best for it. I understand some clubs may share the equipment and possibly have to wait to take their turn, but to me it hasn’t ever made sense how it just seems to happen at random.
 
Do all the courses near you do this at the same time? Round here, they seem to do it randomly. You’d think that they would all be doing it at a similar time as that’s when the weather is best for it. I understand some clubs may share the equipment and possibly have to wait to take their turn, but to me it hasn’t ever made sense how it just seems to happen at random.
Kinda weird really, there is a kind of line the storms travel across the state. Doing straight line, the courses that are 60 miles south are always first, then the course we play 30 miles south is next then the courses in our immediate area are done. There can be quite a variation in temps and soil temps from the far south to hear. This course I am referencing is in the middle zone. Once thing it could be maybe is the use of reclaimed water that effects the soil and greens, but that is a guess.
 
Ours are usually good after 2-3 weeks. This year it took an extra week before they were back to normal speed and smooth again.
 
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